Draft gear



sepas, '1925.' A1552.234

J. R. CARDWELL DRAFT GEAR Filed Nov. 21, 1924 M l y Myx Patented Sept. 8, 1925.

ums

JAMES n. OARDWELL, OI' CHICAGO, ILLINOIs,^AssIGNoR To UNION DRAFT GEAR oo.,

A CORPORATION or ILLINOIS.

IDRAIIETl GEAR.

Appncaaon mea November 21, 1924.y serial No. 751,216. i A 1 To all whom t may concer/n: l .Y A Be it known that I, JAMES It. CARDWELL,

a citizen of the United States, and residentV of Chicago, county of Cook, and Statel of This invention relates to draft kgears for railway trains and more particularly to the friction type of draft gear;

One of the'obJects of the inventionis the,

provision o-f a new an-d improved gear in which the forces of compression will be more` nearly' distributed according to the strength of the material than has heretofore been possible with the constructions in gen-- eral use. i

Another'obj ect of the invention is the provision of a new and improved arrangement of chambered followers and solid follower blocks. Y

vOther and further objects Vand advantages of the invention will appear vfrom the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. 1-is a horizontal section of the center sills of a railway car showingrmy invention in position thereon, with parts brokenY away, the parts being shown in the relation they occupy under the buff;

Fig. 2 is a verticalsection along' line 2--2v of Fig. 1, with parts broken away; and

Fig. 3 is a side view of the wedge block.

In the type of gear in which the wedge block is provided with a transverse opening therethrough it has been found by experiment kthat the compression force if transmitted through all portionsy of: the

blockV equally will tend to split the block longitudinally in the plane of the hole.. 'I he present invention is adapted to overcome 5 y ylengththat it will` reinforce thevcentral porthis difliculty. f

On the drawing the reference character-` 10V designates the center sills of `a railway car. Each silll is provided. with a buffer lug 11 and a draft lug 12.

The draft gear mechanism comprises two opposed,chamberedfollowers or gear casings 13. Follower barsV 15 and 11.6 are inserted between the chambered followers 13 and the shoulders, respectively. The. coupler use.

y butt 17 is provided a yoke which if embraces thel gear casings 13 and the bars 15 and 16. 1

Friction means are associated with ,the

casings` to resist their compression.l As

shown,l this means comprises a wedge block v 19 having the inclined faces 21 at Veach end thereof whichV converge outwardly.v The wedge block 19 is provided withjtongues 2O on itsl upper" and lower faces for eugagirng grooves .200 in thev casings,

corresponding "for positioning the block. f It is alsov provided with fan elongated opening22 vextend- 1 I ling transverselyv `through its central por A tension rod or bolt 23 is adapted l tion.

to extend through said block, the sides of said casing and ythrough the sills 10.y A shoe 24 lis slidably mounted on said rod at each side rof said block within said casing.

`Springs 25 mounted onthe outer. ends of shoes dueto the draft. an-d butfingstresses, as l Vwill presently appear.

The shoes 24 are provided on their inner surfaces at each end-thereof with inclined,

friction faces 27 which are adapted to be ,en-l

gaged by wedges 28. The wedges 28 are adapted toy be forced betweenfthe shoes and action' of the yoke 18.

faces of theshoes andwedge block and between thelwedg'es and the followers induced by the resistance ofthe springs 25 is'adapted to absorb the normal bulfng stresses to which thefdraft gear is subjected in actual The walls ofthe casings 13 and ,14 are' not .the wedge block 19 by the draft and buifing The friction bej `tween the-wedges28 fand the yinclined surof sufficient strength to resist the compres j.

sion to which'the ygear issometimes subjectl ed, consequently'thewedge block is of such tions of the casingsil' and 14C` andfwill, as a rnatterfv of. fact, i constitut'eithe principali abutment for the followers 15 and 16 when the gear is entirely collapsed by abnormal entirely collapsed, provision is made whereby that portion of the wedge block opposite saidV opening will not come in contact with the bottoms of said casings 13. This may be accomplished by 'providing a recess. in either the followers or in the ends of the blocks, or in both, said recesses or notches being arranged in the plane of the open-` ing 22.

In the form of the device selected to illustrate one embodiment of the invention each end of the wedge block 19 is provided witha recess or groove 29.` extending entirely across the block parallel with the laxis of said opening. vThe casings 13 may'also be provided with corresponding recesses Sl'arranged opposite to VSaid recesses 29, respectively.

Bymeans of this arrangement, 'the buliing stresses which are suihcientlysevere to cause the gear to collapse `will be 'transmitted through the upper and lower solid portions of the wedge block 19, the central apertured portion ofthe block not being affected except indirectly, 'consequently there will be no"v tendency to'separate the block along its median line.

The casings 13 are "preferably of lsofter' material than the wedges in order fto provide an veliicient friction surface for the bases o`f the wedges 2`8`which are of relatively hard material.V Preferably malleable iron is em.- ployed'forthe casings` The continued hammering of the Vyoke 18 against the central portion of Vthe casings 'tends to distort the bottoms of the same, and where the'casings are of malleable iron the frictional'surfaces ofthe bottoms ofthe casings which engage the 'wedges are likely to become distorted, thereby affecting the'surface contact l'of the sides of the wedges with the inclined surfaces of the shoes and wedge block. In or-A der to overcome this diiiiculty and at the Sametime form the vcasings of different ma` terial from the wedges, a -pair of steel followers 15 and 16 are'employed. These followers Vwill not become permanently distorted 'by the buiiing action but will distribute the stress equally to both sets of wedges. v v

lIt is 'th-ought fro-1n the foregoing 'taken in connection with'the accompanying drawings that the construction and operation of my 'device will be `apparent to those skilled in the art, and that various changes in size, shape, 'proportion and details of construe tion may be 'made without. departing lfrom the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

I claim as my invention l. In a compressible draft gear. of the friction type, a pair of followers, means for yieldingly `resisting the compression .ofsaid gear, said Imeans comprising a wedge block be transmitted through the solid 4portion of" vsaid block.

2. In combination, a pair of chambeled followers, a wedge lblock within said followers and `adapted to be engaged thereby during the collapsing of said followers,.said block being provided with an'opening and with a recess -a-t each end thereof opposite said followers and inthe planeof the longitudinal a-Xis of Said opening, means including-'a member extendingthrough said opening for frictionally resisting the collapsing. of said followers and for returning the parte to normal position after compression.

3. In a draft gear, ay pair of follower members, a friction block between said members, `and means including a rod extending through a transverse opening in said block for yieldingly resisting the compression ofv said members, Said block and members being provided with oppositely arranged recesses in the Vplane of said opening.

4. In a draft gear, a pair of follower members, a friction block between'said members, and means including a rodextending through a transverse opening in said block for yieldingly resisting thecompression of members, saidmembers being provided with recesses opposite the ends of said block in the `plane of said opening and each of a size equal vto a` cross section of said opening whereby the buiing stresses will be transmitted through theV solid portions of said block at-each side of said opening when the follower Imembers engage the ends of the block as the gear goes solid.

5. rIn a draft gear for railway cars, a: wedge block comprising-a metallicfbar having its ends provided with inclined faces converging outwardly, said block having an opening extending transversely through its central portion and each end' thereof provided with a depression lin the longitudinal axis thereof.

In testimonywhereof I aiiix my signature. 

